Acts 9:1-6 “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he must bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘ Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So he, trembling and astonished said, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ “
Paul had a decision to make. Paul, persecuting the church, was running into Christians. Guess what the Christians were sharing with Paul? The gospel. When he stood before Stephen and they laid the coats at his feet, and Stephen presented the Old Testament, he laid it out there. Paul was being convicted. Seeds were planted, seeds were watered, and now the Holy Spirit is stirring in his life, and he’s on his road to Damascus, and he’s struggling. He’s not going to give up his religion and his sitting as a Pharisee, and he was going to kill these Christians. He wanted to stand, he had a zeal for God. But the conviction of the Holy Spirit was working on him. And then when Jesus intercepted him, he knew right then and there “Lord, what do you want me to do?” He just buckled, broke, received Christ right there. His eyes were blinded, he was given spiritual sight, and later his physical eyes were opened, and he served Jesus.
He had a choice to make. He could have stubbornly refused even there, but he was given free will, and he exercised it accordingly. Yes, it was by the will God. So, Paul writes in Colossians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God…” amen.